


The Logic Game

by Fuzzball457



Series: The Games [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Logic Puzzles, Psychological Torture, Refrences to The Big Game/Revelations, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 14:54:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzball457/pseuds/Fuzzball457
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reid and Morgan are kidnapped by a whole new type of Unsub who wants to play a sick game with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Logic Game

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 17 parts on FF.net. 
> 
> Wrote this a while ago, so please suspend your disbelief for anything that seems improbable ;)

_An action doesn't have to be wrong just because it is not logical. And it doesn't have to be right just because it has logic._

_~Lion Feuchtwanger_

* * *

PART I: Abductions

"We have a case," JJ informed the group.

Everyone made their way to the conference room and took their spots around the table.

"What have we got?" Hotch asked immediately.

"Right now we're looking at four victims in Manchester, New Hampshire. All the victims died of blood loss and all of them showed signs of extensive torture. All the bodies were found in the woods in the past three weeks. The first victim is Katie Young." Two photos appeared on the screen. "She was twenty-one years old, a full-time student at Southern New Hampshire University, which is in Manchester. She had received a full scholarship for outstanding academics and was currently working on a major in Business Administration and Management."

"Obviously the work of a sadist," Prentiss pointed out as they all looked at her bloody, mangled body.

"Her body is positioned similarly to the fetal position," Reid observed.

"Trying to degrade her?" Morgan suggested.

"Most likely."

"Also the body being in the woods suggested the Unsub didn't want her body found immediately," Rossi pointed out.

"He doesn't seem to have any affection for the victim."

"What about the next victim, JJ?" Hotch asked.

"Mark Tyler, 43 years of age. He was one of the leading doctors at Doctor's Park Pediatrics, also in Manchester. Found in the same position with similar marks of torture. The third victim was Melissa White who was a professor at Hesser College. She was 45 years old and taught biological sciences. Also found in a similar position with similar marks. The last victim was 32 year old, Ryan Glover, who was an engineer. There was also another murder that fits the time frame, but that victim died of dehydration and showed no marks of torture."

"So most likely not the same person?"

"Most likely," JJ agreed.

"How long were they missing before their bodies were found?" Hotch asked, dragging the point back to what they did know.

"It varies from three to as much as ten days," JJ informed them.

"Probably keeps them as long as he can before they die from whatever sick torture he does to them," Morgan concluded.

"Also, all the victims were found with injuries to the back of their head."

"Suggesting the Unsub knocked them out from behind."

"He's probably either incapable or feels incapable of taking them head on. Also, women are much more likely to drug or attack a victim from behind because they tend to lack the physical strength required to take a person down head on," Reid quickly supplied.

"So we're either looking at a woman or-"

"This level of torture isn't commonly found in women," Hotch pointed out.

"Look at the marks on the victims," Prentiss said suddenly, having been focusing on the images for the last few minutes. "He likely has some sort of medical training because most of these were done with medical precision. He knew how to cause the most pain with the smallest chance of the victim dying."

"But he probably couldn't control his sadistic urges and got carried away. That would explain the difference in the length of time the victims were held."

"What about victimology?" Rossi asked.

"All the victims have jobs or positions that would require a fairly high level of intelligence," Reid said.

"Maybe the Unsub is targeting people they view as smarter than themselves," Morgan suggested

"That would explain the degrading position in which the bodies were found."

"Plus torturing them would demonstrate dominance," Morgan added.

"What's the timeline between abductions?" Hotch asked.

"A new victim was taken immediately. After one body was found, the next day someone new would go missing," JJ informed them.

"When was the last body found?"

"Early this morning," JJ replied.

"Alright, we don't have much time. Everyone grab their go-bags and be ready to leave in twenty minutes, we'll continue the profile on the plane."

Everyone nodded then headed off to gather their stuff.

XXX

"Heading out, Pretty Boy?" Morgan, who had just been getting ready to head back to the hotel, asked as he spotted Reid also packing up.

"Yeah," Reid supplied as he shoved the last of the case files into his messenger bag. They both headed off down the hallway of the police department. Just as they got out to the black SUV, Reid suddenly stopped walking.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"I forgot my cell phone, just give me a few seconds," Reid said before dashing back towards the office.

Morgan slid into the driver's seat and started the vehicle. He drummed along to the beat of some song on the radio.

But when it ended, almost three minutes later, Reid still wasn't back. Morgan hopped out of the vehicle and walked briskly to the front doors which he quickly pulled open.

"Reid, man, what is taking so long?" Morgan demanded as he turned into the conference room the BAU had set up headquarters in.

Morgan froze at the sight before him.

Reid lay on his side on the ground obviously unconscious. Blood was pooling around his head from a gash on the back of his head.

Morgan barely had time to register what must be happening before he felt pain explode in the back of his head and he too fell unconscious.

XXX

Reid slowly cracked open his eyes. He almost screamed when he saw the single bulb hanging from the ceiling. _Oh god, I'm with Tobias again…but no, that doesn't make sense…_ He had never had a single bulb hanging from a cord in his apartment, not even in a closet. And if he ever did, they were gone as soon as he was back from the hospital after being kidnapped.

So where was he?

Slowly the memories returned to him. The case, going back for his cell phone, the incredible pain in his head. Reid prayed that he had been taken before Morgan came looking for him. Otherwise it would be all his fault that Morgan was kidnapped.

Reid began to look around and with dismay his eyes came to rest on Morgan laying a few feet away with a gash to the back of his head.

"Morgan, Morgan," Reid called, trying to awaken his partner. It suddenly occurred to Reid that he wasn't tied up or restrained in any way. He didn't take time to question the reason behind that and quickly made his way over to Morgan, ignoring the pounding in his head.

"Morgan, come on, wake up," Reid said, shaking his shoulder lightly. "You have to wake up…come on…Derek!" Morgan made a faint groan and slowly his eyes flickered open.

"Reid?" he mumbled as he brought a hand up to his head, which was no doubt also pounding.

"Yeah, I think we've been kidnapped by the Unsub," he said unsurely as he looked around warily.

"What?" Morgan cried as he jerked up into a sitting position, causing him to groan and cautiously finger the wound at the back of his head. "Oh crap," he said as he took in his surroundings.

The room was about the size of an average bedroom, but the walls were cement suggesting they were in a basement. There were two bare bulbs suspended from the ceiling that cast a yellowish glow about the room. Other than that, the room was empty except for two blankets in the corner which both looked incredibly old and scratchy. A large metal door faced them. Reid had no doubt it was locked from the outside.

"Great," Morgan said sarcastically as he looked around.

"Morgan, did you know that in in 1982, there were only 154,341 reported kidnappings in the US. But in 2000 alone there were 876,213? That's a 468% increase. If kidnapping was a disease, it would have been declared an epidemic," Reid babbled.

Morgan turned to look at him and realized that Reid was clearly getting nervous and scared causing him to jabber on.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here," he said.

PART II: Mayella

All conversation was halted by the sound of the locks on the door being opened.

 

Whatever they were expecting, was certainly not what they got. There was no large, burly man with a freaky smile full of decaying, yellow teeth. There was no crazed person trapped in a world their own mind created. No knives or guns being brandished.

Because what stood before them was a young girl.

The girl was probably around seventeen, Reid surmised. She had light brown hair that fell in soft waves around her shoulders. She was wearing a light yellow, cotton dress that had spaghetti straps and fell to just above her knees. When her green eyes landed on Reid and Morgan, a brilliant smile lit up her face.

She walked towards them purposefully and stopped three or four feet away.

"You must be Derek Morgan," she said then looked over to Reid, "and Spencer Reid?" She said pleasantly as she turned her view on him. The bit of excitement and - was that _hunger –_ in her voice when she said his name didn't go unnoticed by the young genius.

Reid couldn't believe his eyes. She just looked so…normal…so innocent.

"Yeah, who the hell are you?" Morgan asked gruffly. Suddenly the smile disappeared off her face and an intense hatred became evident. She briskly walked up to him and firmly slapped him across the cheek. Morgan jerked slightly but recovered quickly.

"That was rude. And you should know I don't tolerate rudeness," she said simply. After a moment's pause, her smile was back in place and she stepped back to look at them once more. "But you are right that it was rude of me to not properly introduce myself," she said regretfully, "My name is Mayella, but most people just call me May." Reid couldn't help but wonder how many people she actually knew that were close enough to her to call her May.

"I must say, I'm terribly excited," she said sounded exactly like the giddy girl her outward appearance suggested she was.

"For what?" Reid asked, trying to keep his voice light and conversational. Reid had already come to the conclusion that if they had any hopes of getting out, they had to go along with her, not fight against her.

"For the game." Her eyes lit up in excitement as she said it, like it was a secret pleasure.

"What game?" Morgan demanded.

"The game. The game I play with all my victims," she said seriously. Reid didn't like where this was going. Based on the amount of torture that had been done to the other bodies, this was not a game they would enjoy. "And, I must say, I'm more excited than usual because it has been so long since I've had a worthy competitor."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked. But Reid had already figured it out. She meant him. She had kidnapped him solely because she thought his intelligence would make him worthy of her 'game.' The good thing about that meant that it was likely a game that included some sort of knowledge. He could do knowledge.

"What are the rules?" Reid asked. Morgan shot him a disbelieving look that Reid ignored.

"You're eager to play, I see," she said sounding pleased. She turned to Morgan with a sympathetic look on her face, "I'm sorry to say, Derek, that you won't have much of a part in playing the game. You will be needed though, rest assured." May turned to Reid with an expression of curiosity and interest. "My game is focused on you, Spencer. In fact, I had no need to take Derek other than the fact that he was getting in the way of taking you. You see, you fascinate me, Spencer. You have an incredible mind…" she was clearly talking to herself more than them now, her eyes getting a distant look. Whether consciously or subconsciously, though Reid suspected the latter, she moved a few steps closer to him.

Suddenly, she snapped back to attention with a little shake of her head. "But anyway, it's just been so long since I've had a challenge, that I just couldn't resist myself," May said, her eyes going wide in excitement. Out of the corner of his eye, Reid saw Morgan shoot him a look that plainly read _complete nutter._ Apparently realizing she was now only a foot away from Reid, May took a few steps back. "But to the point, the rules of the game are very simple," she said as though explaining to a couple of children. "Every five hours I will come. I will ask you, Spencer, a question. If you get it right I will give you food _or_ water. It will be up to you, Derek, to pick which."

"Lucky me."

"And if I get it wrong?" Reid said nervously. Based off the kind of torture her previous victims had endured, it wasn't something they wanted to happen. But what kind of questions was she talking about? Was it something impossible to answer? Was it something knowledgeable? Yes, that seemed likely since she seemed to think Reid would have a better chance than her previous victims.

A devious, almost maniacal, smile crept across her face and her eyes got a wild glint in them.

"If you get it wrong," May said silkily as she stepped closer and leaned in so she was only half a foot away from Reid's face. Reid suppressed the urge to shrink away from her and tried to sit up straighter in defiance. "I get to do what I want, whatever I want, to you for an hour. No breaks, no stopping." The crazed look left her face and she stepped back. May clapped her hands together like a kindergarten teacher and said, "So do we all want to play?"

"We get a choice?" Morgan couldn't help but ask.

"Of course. I'll be back in an hour. If you want to play we will begin then. If not, then we'll just go from there." She gave one last smile before slipping out.

"I still don't get why she's giving us a chance. She obviously wants us to play, why bother letting us give our input?" Morgan asked.

"Because she wants us to condemn ourselves." At Morgan's confused look, Reid continued, "Think about it. If we say no and don't play, we're gambling everything that our team will find us before we die of dehydration. But then, if they don't, we die and it's our own fault. But, if we accept, it's like-"

"Giving up hope that they'll find us," Morgan supplied dully.

"Exactly. She wants to see us squirm, so to speak." Reid let out a sudden gasp as something else occurred to him. "Remember JJ saying there had been another body? But we dismissed it as not the same killer because nothing was the same? There wasn't any torture and-"

"They died of dehydration," Morgan finished, his eyes going wide in realization.

"I'm willing to bet she kidnapped him, but he refused to play, so he died of lack of water."

"Great, so what do we do?" Reid thought for a moment, weighing their options. It was possible that, if they didn't play, the team would find them before they died and they would spare themselves of torture. But were they really willing to gamble their lives that the team could find them? Especially now that they _knew_ the profile was wrong? But then, what if he couldn't answer the questions? She no doubt would torture him, but would she torture Morgan as well?

"I say we play," Reid said uncertainly, "She clearly thinks I at least have a chance at getting the questions right, so it's probably knowledge based. Plus we can try to redo the profile and use that to our advantage."

"Yeah, that's probably our best bet. The team will find us, I have no doubt, but it might take them longer than…"

"Three days. The average person can go three to four, sometimes even five days without fluids. But factors like age, weight, general health can also impact that," Reid said. And for a second he could almost pretend he was back at the BAU rambling off facts while Morgan and Prentiss exchanged humored glances and Hotch tried to decide when to stop him.

"I think it'd also be wise to play along with her," Reid said, giving Morgan look that clearly read _don't be rude._ Morgan nodded in understanding. "I think if we're nice to her, we'll stand a better chance at getting inside her head."

"While we wait for her we should rework the profile, see what we can figure out about her that we can use to our advantage," Morgan said, also feeling more in his element.

"Her main fixation is obviously on me," Reid pointed out unnecessarily. "She must be pretty smart though because even though she views me as a competitor, she still thinks she can beat me."

"I guess we won't know for sure until we know what her questions are," Morgan sighed.

"At first, I thought she was a sadist, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm assuming she wanted to torture me if I lose and the victims' injuries all scream sadist, but-"

"She gave us an out. If she was a sadist I doubt she'd be able to stop herself from torturing the person even if they did get the question right. Why bother with the whole game thing? Make it possible for her to not torture us? It doesn't make sense," Morgan said.

"You know, something else just occurred to me that doesn't make sense. Think about the manner in which we were kidnapped."

"We were knocked unconscious from behind, that lines up," Morgan said, unable to see where Reid was going, "A sneak attack like that is common in Unsubs who either can't or don't think they can take down a person on their own. She fits that, it makes sense."

"Yeah, but, Morgan, no offense, but how would a seventeen year old girl manage to get you out of the building and into a car by herself without anyone noticing? You're pretty much all muscle and muscle weighs twice as much as fat and with her estimated body mass-"

"Reid!" Morgan said, drawing Reid out of his ramble, "I get it. And you're right, as always. So do you think she has a partner?"

"Yeah, I doubt she could do this all on her own. I mean even if she was physically capable of kidnapping the victims and depositing their bodies, she's young. Someone has to be responsible for her. Plus," Reid started talking faster and faster as things finally started adding up, "some of the wounds on the victims would require a fair amount of strength and some sort of medical knowledge so as to know how to cause pain without killing someone."

"So you think the partner is the one torturing them?"

"That would explain why she lacks sadistic nature, yet the victims were obviously tortured," said Reid, feeling like they were finally getting somewhere.

"But that still begs the question, why? If she's not getting the kicks from torturing people, what's with the whole game thing?"

"All the victims have been smart people, doctors, professors, etc. and she still seems confident that she'll win, so she must enjoy the thrill and proving her superiority over people most would view as very smart."

"So maybe an unappreciated child prodigy?" Morgan suggested.

"Probably something along those lines. She was probably unrecognized or unappreciated for her high intelligence, maybe severely bullied, and now she's proving not only her brilliance but her dominance."

"Couple that with some sadistic whack-job and you've got the perfect combination. A win-win situation. But how does she know him? How long have they known each other?"

"She doesn't seem old enough to be in a romantic relationship serious enough for this."

"Yeah, I don't take my girlfriends out on my kidnapping sprees unless it's serious," Morgan said sarcastically. Reid gave him a famous Reid look that said both 'Really, Morgan?' and 'I appreciate the effort' at the same time. And for a second they just enjoyed the moment.

That is until they heard footsteps on the stairs.

"I guess we're about to find out."

PART III: Disappearances

"Has anyone seen Morgan or Reid?" Hotch asked as everyone assembled in their designated room at the police station.

"Not since yesterday," Prentiss said.

"It's not like them to be late," JJ said a bit of worry making its way into her voice.

"We can't worry yet, it's entirely possible they just overslept. JJ, I want you to phone them both, if they don't answer swing by their hotel rooms. Prentiss, you and Rossi go talk to the families of the victims, see what you can get. I'll stay here and start on geographic profile." Everyone nodded and headed off to do their jobs.

Just as JJ was about to exit the room, a hand on her arm stopped her. She turned to face her boss.

"Keep me posted on Morgan and Reid," Hotch said, a bit of worry slipping into his voice.

"Will do," she said with a nod before heading out the door. The small cell phone was extracted from her purse and she dialed Reid's number quickly.

It rang a few times before going to voicemail.

"Uh, hey, Spence, it's JJ. Just wondering where you are. Give me a call back when you get this, thanks." _He probably just overslept and is in the shower or something,_ she reassured herself.

Morgan's phone also went to voicemail.

"Hey, Morgan, it's JJ. Where are you? Give me a call when you get this, okay?"

A flare of panic rose in her chest.

_No, they probably both overslept and…couldn't get to their phones because… they were showering…yeeeaaaah, that's it._

The rain splashing down on the car mirrored JJ's feelings as she drove down the road, gripping the steering wheel tighter than usual. She pulled up to the hotel she had left only half an hour earlier.

She parked the black SUV before making her way her way into the hotel and up the stairs to the second floor.

"Reid?" she called as she knocked on his door. "Reid, are you in there?" She knocked harder a few more times, but still no answer.

She called his cell phone as she made her way to Morgan's room. It went straight to voicemail now.

"Morgan?" JJ waited a minute before knocking louder. "Morgan! Open up!"

It was too much of a coincidence for them both to not answer their door or their cells to assume nothing was wrong.

Her hands shook as she dialed Hotch and she cursed her own nerves and anxiousness.

"Agent Hotcher."

"Hotch? Neither Reid nor Morgan are answering their phones and neither of them appear to be in their rooms," JJ said quickly.

"Alright, get a key to both their rooms from the front desk and check them to see if anything seems out of place. Give me a call if you find anything. If not, report back here," he said, calm as usual.

"Okay." JJ hung up and made her way back to the receptionist area. With a quick show of her badge, she soon had keys to both rooms and was once again outside of Reid's door.

The tiny, naïve part of her hoped to find Reid deep asleep when she opened the door, though she knew it was unlikely.

The emptiness of the room hit JJ first.

And not even just the lack of Reid. None of his belongings were there. None of his clothes were there, not his messenger bag, nothing. The bed sheets were undisturbed and the complimentary shampoo and conditioner were untouched. It was like he never went to the hotel yesterday after landing in New Hampshire and working with the local police for most of the day.

Morgan's room provided the same results.

JJ then made her way down to the receptionist area to ask a question she probably should have asked in the first place.

"No, I'm sorry, no one checked into either of those rooms though they were reserved," the hotel clerk, Sarah by her nametag, said.

"Thank you, could you give me a call if either of them do show up?" she asked as she handed her card to the woman. Sarah nodded her agreement before JJ turned and exited the hotel. She knew it was unlikely either of them would show up, but it would be foolish not to keep all options open.

She dialed another familiar number as she drove back to the precinct.

"You've reached the Goddess of all technology and wisdom, what can I do for you?"

"Hey, Garcia, I need you to track Reid and Morgan's cell phones, please," JJ said.

"Why? What are my boys up to?" Garcia asked, with a tiny hint of worry in her voice.

"We can't find them. They weren't at the hotel and they didn't show up for work. They won't answer their phones, either."

"On it," Garcia said before ending the call.

JJ pulled into the parking lot and made her way through the glass doors and down the hallway to the room their team was currently using.

"What did you find?" Hotch asked as JJ entered.

"Nothing, the lady said they never checked in."

"Have Garcia-"

"Already done, Sir," JJ replied.

"Alright, good, I'll get Prentiss and Rossi back and we'll go from there."

PART IV: The First Game

The bolts on the door opened and Mayella stepped in.

"Hello," she said happily as she shut the door behind her.

"Hello, May," Reid said pleasantly. Once she was done with the door, she turned to smile at Reid. Reid instantly spied something bunched up in her hand, though he couldn't tell what.

"So did you decide if you want to play?" she said looking between the two eagerly.

"Yeah, we're gonna play," Morgan said. Her eyes lit up and she brought her hands together happily.

"Oh goody! I so hoped you'd play! Now here's how this will work. Spencer, you will come with me into another room. I will ask you a question and give you exactly five minutes to come up with an answer. You can ask me whatever questions you want and I will do my best to answer, though I won't give you any hints or anything along those lines, okay? If you get it right, I will come in here to you, Morgan, and ask you if you want food or water. You will get whichever you ask for and Reid will get the opposite. However, if you get the question wrong, Spencer, you will be punished. Punished for one hour and one hour only, not a minute less, not a minute more. But before you are, I will return here and inform Derek that you got the question wrong, I'd hate for him to have to wait in suspense," she said, though he gleeful looked suggested that she wanted nothing but that. "Then you will return here. Five hours from when you return I will come back and we will play again. Okay?"

Both Reid and Morgan nodded. "Great!" she said cheerily, "come along, Spencer." Reid stood and made his way over to her. "Hold out your hands," she said, revealing the item in her hands to be a length of rope. Reid cast a wary glance over at Morgan who gave him a nod. They were both thinking the same thing, _best to just go along with it._ Reid held out his hands and she promptly bound them together. When she was done she said, "follow me," and turned back to the unlocked door. Just before opening it, she turned back to Reid with a more serious expression and said, "Don't try anything, okay? Because Derek is still here and he will pay for any of your actions." Reid nodded and she opened the door and stepped out. Reid shot one last glance at Morgan and barely managed to catch his, "Good luck, Kid," before the door slammed shut and May started sliding several locks into place.

"Straight down the hall," she told him.

It only took Reid a moment to realize that even though he was able to move relatively freely, he couldn't escape. There was only one door. The one down the hallway where he assumed that she would ask him the question. The only other way out was through a trapdoor in the ceiling that had a ladder leading to it. There was no way he could climb the ladder with his hands tied.

Mayella shot him a smile as she passed him and opened the other door. She held it open for him and he slipped past her.

He froze as soon as he got a good look at the room.

In the center was an old, wooden chair that savagely reminded Reid of Hankel. _No,_ he told himself, _this is different! Morgan is here with you! All you have to do is answer a question. Couldn't get easier. Just keep your head clear and focused._

But it was hard to keep his head clear and focused as he took in all the ominous instruments hanging on the wall.

"Sit," May said and Reid jumped, having forgotten she was still in the room. He did as told. She shut the door and locked a padlock onto it. She slipped the key, which was hanging from a gold chain, around her neck.

May walked over to the wall and took a moment examining several knives of varying sizes before picking a medium sized one that one might use for cutting vegetables.

"I don't want to use this," she said looking truly upset about even having the item in her hand, "but any crazy escape attempts and I will be forced to, understood?" Reid nodded and a small smile lit up her face. "Good, now let's begin. You're clear on how to play?" Another nod. "Alright." She leaned back against the table and crossed her ankles. She would look almost like any other teenager hanging around if it hadn't been for the knife in her hand.

"Now, I like stories, especially fairy tales, so I'm going to tell this as a story." Reid nodded, feeling completely confused as to what the question even was and feeling very intimidated by the tools hanging on the wall. In fact, he was pretty sure he could spot dried blood on a few. He gulped nervously and turned his attention back to Mayella, wanting to make sure not to miss a thing.

"We'll start easier for now. Here we go: A young prince and princess have fallen in love, but the girl's father was a bitter, old King," her voice rose a bit as she described the situation and Reid tried to keep profiling her while listening, but it was difficult. "So the clever King decided to lure the Prince into a trap. In front of his entire court - nobles, clergy, jesters, even the foolish scullery-maids –he challenged the prince to a highly unusual and dangerous game." Her eyes twinkled a bit at the end.

"The prince was brought forth and the King said, 'The Princess is behind one of these three doors I have placed in front of you. Behind the other two are hungry tigers who will most certainly eat you for dinner. If you prove your love by picking the correct door, you may marry my daughter! And to prove I'm not a bitter old man,' said the King (who secretly suspected that's what everyone thought of him), 'I will help you. Once you make your choice, but before you open the door, I will show you a tiger behind one of the other doors. And then, you may pick again.'

The Prince, who was quite clever, said a quick prayer for luck, and picked a door at random. 'I'm as good as my word,' said the King, 'so now I will show you a tiger from behind one of the two remaining doors.' Three of the Kings guards cautiously opened one of the doors a crack, revealing a tiger. They hurriedly closed the door and the King said, 'Now make your choice! You can stick with your original choice or choose the other one.' And now, Spencer, I ask of you, what should the prince do? Which door will give him a higher chance of picking the princess?" she asked, her eyes positively sparkling with joy.

Reid took less than a minute to answer.

"He should change his decision and pick the other door." Mayella didn't seem remotely surprised that Reid answered as fast as he did. In fact, she seemed to have been expecting it, she seemed _pleased_ almost.

"Is that your final answer?"

Reid knew what she was doing and he wouldn't fall for it. She was trying to make him second guess himself, doubt his answer that he _knew_ was right. And even though he was 100% positive he was right, a bit of doubt flared into his chest. But if he got it wrong…he would be tortured and Morgan wouldn't get to eat…how long had they been without food already anyway?

He gave a nod that came out far feebler than he had intended.

After a minute of nothing, a slow smile crept across her face. "Congratulations, Spencer, you are correct. I will go inform Derek and let him make his decision. I will return shortly with either food or water for you." She unlocked the door and disappeared outside of it. Reid distinctly heard her locking it and Reid got the impression that she intentionally did it loudly as some sort of warning to him. He knew he could very easily untie his bounds, there had to be at least five different knives on the wall, not to mention two saws (Reid _did not_ want to think what those were used for), but what good would it do? He couldn't go anywhere? The door was locked and he was sure both Morgan and himself would pay for his disobedience. So he sat in the chair and waited.

XXX

Morgan paced anxiously around the room. He wanted to know what was going on. _Not_ knowing was killing him. What had Reid had to answer? Was it easy for him? Had he already gotten it right? Or had he gotten it wrong and Mayella was preparing him for torture right then?

Morgan shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that. He had to have faith that the kid could answer whatever the hell she threw at him.

It felt like it had already been hours since Reid left but he knew it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. He made a guttural noise and continued his angry pacing.

God, much more of this and he'd be insane by the time she got back. He needed to clear his head. Morgan closed his eyes and tried to focus on the profile, what they knew about her.

After reviewing everything that Reid and himself had decided upon earlier multiple times, he had made no progress.

What was taking so long? Derek let out a shout of frustration and kicked the wall, which only made his toe throb.

Then he froze.

The locks on the door were being removed.

And the moment he'd been waiting for was finally there. After spending what had felt like hours wishing for time to speed up and Mayella to come, he suddenly wished time would slow down. Delay the inevitable. What if she walked in and told him Spencer was being tortured right then? Would that really be any better? What if-

"Derek," she said pleasantly as she shut the door behind her, though she kept one hand in between the door and the doorframe, keeping it ever slightly open, like she planned on leaving quickly. Which, Morgan rationalized, she probably did. No matter what she had to say it wouldn't take long.

"Quick question, food or water?" Morgan felt like he was melting with relief. Reid had gotten it right! But, then, _what_ did he get right? What had been asked of him? Reid would surely tell him later anyway.

"Um…food," he said after a minute.

"Coming right up," said May and just like that she was back outside and the door was once again being locked.

Morgan dropped to the floor in relief. It was okay. Everything was okay for now. Well, not _okay._ There were still being held captive by a very strange girl, but still…things could be so much worse.

And with that thought in mind, Morgan leaned back up against the wall and waited, much more patiently, for Reid to return.

PART V: A Logical Explanation

The locks on the door could be heard being removed and Spencer sat up straighter. He was both hungry and thirsty, but all the pressure from the whole question thing had made his throat incredibly dry and he dearly hoped Mayella was bringing water.

May stepped in with a glass of water and said brightly, "As soon as you're done, I'll take you back to Derek."

Reid nodded, and then took the water in his bound hands. He brought the glass to his lips and took a sip of the cold, refreshing water. He knew he should be more careful, in case of poisoning or a sedative or such, but it seemed unlikely. She clearly wanted them to play the game and killing him would not accomplish that.

The clear liquid quenched and hydrated his dry throat and calmed his nerves considerably. And suddenly Spencer wondered if Morgan had intentionally picked food knowing that water was exactly what Reid would need then. A small smile spread across his face as he sipped down the last of the water.

"All done?" he nodded and she took the glass from him. "One second, let me check that Derek is done." She disappeared for less than a minute, didn't even bother to lock the door, then was back. "Come along," she said. He followed her down the hall and into the room where Morgan was. He stepped inside.

Morgan, who was sitting and leaning against the wall, looked up and a smile quickly slid across his face.

"I'll be back in five hours!" May said before shutting and locking the door behind Reid.

"Hey Pretty Boy, knew you'd get it right!" Morgan said jokingly as Reid sat down beside him.

"Thank you," Reid said suddenly.

"For?"

"The water," Reid said with a knowing smile.

"Ah," Morgan said dismissively, "knew you didn't eat much anyway and I figured you were probably all nervous and stuff."

"Yeah," Reid agreed.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What was the question?" Morgan asked eagerly.

"Oh yeah," Reid said having almost forgotten Morgan still didn't know. He explained the room where she took him then proceeded to relay the logic puzzle to Morgan.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Morgan exclaimed after Reid finished telling him the question and his correct answer. "Wouldn't it be a 50/50 chance?"

"No," Reid said with a shake of his head. "Well actually, it's fairly controversial, but the 'correct' answer is supposed to be the other door." He thought for a second about the best way to explain it. "See, in the beginning, there was a 1/3 chance that the Princess was behind the door he chose. The King did nothing to that door so after he exposed one of the tigers, there was still a 1/3 chance it was her behind the door. That only left one other door and since the options have to add up to 1, there's a 2/3 chance she's behind the other one now."

Morgan still looked unconvinced, so Reid tried a different way. "Okay, think of it like this. There's a 2/3 chance he picked a door with a tiger, right? So then the King reveals another tiger. If he's wrong, that means that the other door holds the Princess. There's a 2/3 chance he's wrong so there's a 2/3 chance the last door has the princess,"* Reid explained. Morgan thought for a minute before understanding slowly dawned across his features.

"Damn, kid, it took you less than a minute to figure that all out?"

"Actually, no, I didn't have to figure it out."

"What?" Morgan asked, very confused now.

"See that's just a take on the Monty Hall paradox as well as the Three Prisoner's Problem which are both famous logic puzzles with a similar theory behind them. Actually both of them also bear resemblance to the Bertrand's box paradox, which was first proposed by Joseph Bertrand in _Calcul des probabilite̒s_ in 1889-"

"Reid!" Morgan called. "Where on Earth do you learn these things?" Morgan asked with a shake of his head.

"Actually, I read-"

"Rhetorical question, kid," Morgan cut him off. They both savored the moment of familiarity for a few minutes before Morgan spoke up.

"So did you learn anything? Like something we could use for the profile?"

"Well, I noticed two things. One, when she was telling the story, she seemed a bit…resentful when she was saying the 'girl's father was bitter'. Suggesting maybe…"

"She has past issues with her dad," Morgan said thoughtfully.

"Also, the way upstairs is through a trapdoor in the ceiling with a ladder. I'm guessing when we're locked in here, she pulls the ladder up as an added precaution. But that also means-"

"That someone could pull the ladder up on her and trap her down here."

"Exactly, so she must trust whoever her partner a great deal."

"It also shows that her partner isn't jealous or seeking dominance. If he or she has the power to trap her down here but doesn't..." A beat of silence. "We need to find out more about this mysterious partner."

PART VI: A New Perspective

"Garcia, did you find anything on the police department's security cameras?"

"Not really, Sir. A little after 6:00 pm, Morgan and Reid go outside together, then Reid stops. I think he forgot something because he goes back in and Morgan gets into the car. A couple minutes later Morgan gets out and goes back in, presumably looking for Reid. The cameras in the hallways only show that they both entered the conference room. Though Morgan stops just inside the door for a sec, then he moves out of view. Then all the cameras go blank for about thirty minutes before coming back on."

"So it's safe to assume our UnSub took them?" Prentiss clarified.

"Most likely. Garcia, what about their phones?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing, Sir. They're both turned off, but I'll keep them on alert, so I'll know as soon as they're turned on," she said shakily.

"Good, thank you, Garcia." The blonde hung up. "So what are we looking at for motives for taking Reid and Morgan?" Hotch asked the room at large.

"Unless the UnSub started killing people only with the intention of getting the FBI here, it's unlikely to be revenge," Rossi pointed out.

"And with the amount of torture, it seems more sadistic than just a way to get the FBI here."

"So maybe they were on to something?" Prentiss suggested.

"If they'd found out anything major, they would have called me. And besides, how would the UnSub have found out that fast? We only left the office maybe half an hour before that," Hotch asked.

"I just realized something," Rossi said as he looked through the profile they had pulled together, "In the profile, we said the UnSub was targeting people he viewed as smarter than himself-"

"Reid," Prentiss said in understanding. "He probably found out Reid was working the case and couldn't stop himself."

"But why take Morgan too?"

"Maybe Morgan stumbled across the kidnapping so he took him too?"

"No, the UnSub was waiting for Morgan. Otherwise he would have cut the cameras before that."

"He most likely realized that he wouldn't have enough time to kidnap Reid before Morgan came looking, so he just waited," Rossi said.

Before anyone else could say anything, a young brunette entered the room.

"Um, SSA Hotchner? Someone just called in on the hotline. I was told to inform you in case you wanted to talk to her." Hotch nodded and exited the room.

"Something still seems off about the entire profile, I just can't place it," Prentiss said. They couldn't afford to make a mistake. Not when Morgan and Reid's life may depend on it.

"I too have the same feeling," Rossi agreed, frowning slightly.

JJ, who had been at a press conference releasing the profile, walked in and took a seat at the round table.

"How'd it go?" Prentiss asked.

"Fine, I guess, but somehow it got out that two agents are missing. So naturally they were all trying to get information about that…" JJ dropped her head into her hands and massaged her forehead.

Prentsiss gently put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we'll find them."

"I know, but-"

"We have to be optimistic," surprisingly it came from Rossi. "We have to work under the assumption that they're alive unless we get evidence otherwise. We can't let our emotions interfere with the case; we're no good to them if none of us are functioning properly."

"I just…what about Reid? I'm not sure if he can handle all of this all over again, it was so bad the first time and…"

"Reid's gonna be okay because this time we'll be there for him. Last time we left him alone and let him struggle," the drug addiction went unsaid, "but not this time. They'll both be fine. I have to believe that with every fiber of my being because that's the only chance we have to help them," Prentiss said. In all honesty, all of them were worried and, as if it wasn't hard enough working two men down, they were having trouble focusing because of their concern.

JJ nodded and sent a small smile at both of the other agents. "Thank you."

Suddenly Hotch walked in looking completely disgruntled, which was weird to see on the normally stoic man.

"So?"

"Well at first, I dismissed her because she said the person she thought it might be was a woman. A girl, actually. Only seventeen."

"Doesn't fit the profile at all-"

"But then she mentioned that the girl lived with her older brother and I got to thinking-"

"Maybe this whole time we've been trying to make a profile of one person that was actually _two_!" Prentiss said eagerly.

"That would explain some of the more confusing parts of the profile," Rossi said as he mulled the idea over.

"Still, seventeen? Doesn't that seem young?" JJ asked.

"Yes, but we can't rule it out. Even if it's not these particular people, we didn't consider a partnership. We need to reaproach the profile with that view and see what we get," Hotch said.

"While we do that, we should see what Garcia can find out about the people that woman was talking about. You never know, maybe they are who we're looking for," Prentiss said.

Hotch quickly called Garcia back up.

"You've reached the amazing Goddess of-" she started, though it lacked her usual perkiness.

"Garcia, I need you to look up a potential lead for us," Hotch said quickly.

"Anything to help find my boys. What's the name?" A bit of hope shown through her voice.

"Mayella Roberts."

PART VII: Cheating Yourself

Reid had spent the most of the last few hours mulling over what Morgan had said.

' _We have to find out more about this mysterious partner.'_

It was true. And Reid had found a solution to the problem.

The only thing left to do was try and convince Morgan. Not that it really mattered, in the end it would all come down to Reid to make the final decision whether to go through with it or not. But it would still be nice to know he had his friend's support.

But he doubted he'd get it.

"What's the most important thing for us to figure out for the profile right now?" Reid asked.

"Um, probably figuring out more about the partner and the relation between them," Morgan said slowly, "Any reason why?"

"I think I have an idea to figure at least a bit more out," he said hesitantly, unsure of how best to present his idea.

"And it is?"

"I just thought…maybe if I…spend some…time with the other partner…"

"Whatever you're trying to say, man, just spit it out because I'm not following you."

"I figured…maybe when Mayella asks me the logic question…if I pretend…" Morgan's face went from confusion to horror in a matter of seconds.

"Reid, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?"

"Actually, it's highly improbable that we're both thinking the same exact thing even though we may have similar basis to our thoughts," Reid quickly rambled before drawing himself back to the situation at hand.

"But, Reid, you're not thinking about intentionally getting the question wrong, are you?" Morgan asked, "Reid, you can't do that. You _can't._ I won't let you!"

"It's not up to you and you said it yourself, finding out more about the partner is the most important thing right now."

"Yeah, but we'll find another way! I'm not going to let you get tortured!" Morgan said exasperatedly.

"It won't be that bad, how much can they do in an hour? Besides, they won't kill me, she needs me for the game…" Whether he was reassuring himself or Morgan, Reid didn't know.

"Will you listen to yourself? I'm telling you no!"

"I don't need your permission."

"Reid, as your friend, I don't want you to get hurt!"

Reid opened his mouth to reply, but the chinking sound of metal on metal echoed around the room.

"Are we all ready?" May chirped as she stepped into the room.

Morgan ignored her and continued trying to talk Reid out of his plan.

"Reid, don't-"

"I'm ready, let's go," Reid said, cutting off Morgan.

"Spectacular, you know the drill," May said. Reid walked up to her and held his hands out which were promptly bound with the same rope. May held the door open for him and he left.

"Reid, listen to me! Don't let yourself get hurt! Reid!" And the metal door shut, effectively blocking out his cries.

"What was that all about?" Mayella asked curiously as she passed Reid and went to the other door.

"No idea," Reid said quietly.

He still wasn't entirely sure if he was going to intentionally get it wrong or not.

As much as he wanted to complete the profile of _both_ Unsubs, he really didn't want to get hurt. Plus, Morgan would also be deprived of water and who knew how long it'd been since Morgan had water. Besides, what if he unintentionally got a question wrong later anyway? Then all his suffering would be in vain.

"Sit," Mayella said as she quickly picked up the same knife from before.

"Are you ready?" she asked sweetly.

_No._

"Yes," Reid said. He needed to decide and fast. All the pros and cons quickly ran themselves through his head, comparing and weighing the outcome.

"Alright, then let's begin," she said happily, "so there are twenty coins sitting on the table, ten are currently heads and tens are currently tails. You are sitting at the table with a blindfold and gloves on. You are able to feel where the coins are, but are unable to see or feel if they heads or tails. You must create two sets of coins. Each set must have the same number of heads and tails as the other group. You can only move or flip the coins, you are unable to determine their current state. How do you create two even groups of coins with the same number of heads and tails in each group?" she asked.

Reid took a few seconds and soon had himself an answer. It was simple, separate the coins into two sets of ten coins. Flip all the coins in one group over and leave the other pile alone. Then the first set would have the same number of heads and tails as the other one.

No, the answer to the question wasn't the problem, which was kind of ironic sounding when he thought about it. Whether to answer correctly or not was the problem.

"You said I could ask you questions?" Reid asked. A victorious glint shown in May's eyes for a second before it was hidden with her usually cheeriness.

"Of course, you can, Spencer. Ask away, but remember I won't tell you anything that gives the answer away," she reminded happily.

"Right…will the questions get harder as we go along?" Something akin to disappointment shown on her face as it seemingly dawned on her that Reid did know the answer.

"Not necessarily, some may be harder, but they won't escalate regularly," she said while keeping her eyes on the knife which she twirled slowly.

So that meant there was a good chance Reid would be able to answer all her questions correctly, making it unlikely he would be tortured because he honestly didn't get the answer. And if he did, he had no one but himself to blame – it was just a risk he had to take. And Morgan had ate only five hours ago, so hopefully whatever he ate would help hold off dehydration for another five hours. They couldn't have been unconscious for more than roughly ten hours, so he'd live.

Reid took a deep breath and, with all the courage he could muster, said, "I don't know."

PART VIII: Punishment

Morgan paced nervously around the room. He could only pray that Reid wouldn't intentionally get the answer wrong. The profile may be important, may be their only weapon, but it wasn't worth _that._

He'd do anything, even take the torture himself, if it meant Reid didn't have to. Reid was still so young, so innocent. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve half the shit that was dumped on him. The poor kid had already been through so much even though he was the youngest of them all.

Not to mention it was Morgan's job to protect Reid! He was like a little brother!

The door opened and Mayella stepped in.

Morgan froze and focused all his attention on her.

"How are you, Derek?"

"Cut the crap, did Reid get the question right?" he snarled.

"I do not tolerate rudeness, Derek," she snapped. "And for your information, no, Spencer didn't get the question right and I think I might just have to punish him a little extra for your outburst."

Morgan felt his heart drop.

Oh, God. Reid had gotten it wrong. Whether intentional or not, though Morgan suspected the former, Reid would be tortured. Maybe already was being tortured. And he had only made it worse.

"Use me instead, torture me instead," Morgan said desperately.

"Whoever said anything about torture? And, no, it was Spencer who got the question wrong so it's Spencer who shall take the punishment," she said cheekily.

She exited before he could get another word out.

Morgan wanted to scream or punch the wall or _anything._ Anything but wait, knowing Reid was being tortured and not knowing how bad.

He should have done something. _Anything!_ Tried harder to stop Reid or demand he be taken instead. This was his fault. He'd failed. In the worst way!

He began to pace angrily around the room, mentally trying to figure out how much time had passed.

After what had to be roughly thirty minutes, Morgan still hadn't heard anything. No screams, no shouts, no nothing.

The hopeful side of him told him that maybe Reid wasn't being tortured at all, maybe they had just been too quick to assume things. But the rational part of him reminded him of the bloody, broken bodies of other victims.

He immediately shoved those images aside. But now that he had thought of them, they just kept coming back. Only this time he would see Reid bloody and battered.

He got his answer a few minutes later when a scream rang out.

Not just a scream, Reid's scream.

It was laced with pain and misery _and goddamnit why did this have to happen to Reid?_

Morgan could tell Reid was trying hard not to scream, but there was only so much pain one person could take in silence.

When a second scream filled the silence, Morgan found himself pounding on the door, shouting out curses.

After several minutes during which the door didn't budge, Morgan slowly sank to the floor.

"Hold on, Reid," he whispered quietly.

XXX

A few minutes after leaving to inform Morgan of the outcome of the latest question, May returned.

But she wasn't alone.

A tall, well built man followed behind her. He looked to be in his early twenties with short, light brown hair that matched May's.

"Get up," May said chirpily.

Reid did as told and May grabbed one of his bound wrists and gently pulled him back a bit to a metal table. The man remained by the entry way, passively watching.

"Lay down," she said a bit more commanding than usual.

Reid took a deep breath. It was his decision, he would have to live with it. He lowered himself to the table and laid back.

May grabbed a knife off the wall and slit Reid's binds. She dragged his hands about his head and wrapped something over them holding them there. She pulled his legs straight then bound them with the same type of rope.

Once she was done tying him up, May leaned forwards a bit. She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Spencer, it'll be over before you know it!" She smiled then backed away.

'Over before you know it' is something you say when someone is getting their first cavity taken care of, or when their getting a tetanus shot. Or maybe before a big presentation. It was something supporting that suggested whatever was coming wouldn't be as bad as one thought, that it would go by quickly.

Reid felt the statement was not remotely appropriate for the given situation.

"Remember, only an hour, Chris," May warned, the closest thing to dislike Reid had heard from her yet.

"You know, an hour isn't nearly enough time," the male, Chris apparently, growled back.

"And that's not for you to decide. I'll be back then." Reid heard her start to walk away, but before she got to the door, she stopped. "Oh, and, Chris? Remember, I want him alive." The door opened and closed and soon Reid was alone with the mysterious stranger.

The man approached him and stared down at him with cold, calculating blue eyes.

"So, Spencer is it?" he asked finally.

" _Dr._ Spencer Reid of the FBI," Reid stated firmly.

"Right," he said as a sneer spread across his face. He turned to face the wall and Reid was pretty sure he was inspecting the instruments of torture that hung there.

"So tell me, _Doctor,_ what do you do for the FBI?" he asked as he fingered a large knife that glinted in the ominously in the yellow light.

"I'm work for a Behavioral Analysis Unit," Reid said hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he'd know what that was or if he'd know that at that very moment Reid was taking everything about him in, mentally adding to the profile.

"Is that so?" he said as he turned around to once again face his victim. He either didn't know what a BUA was or just hadn't realized that Reid was most likely a profiler and Reid was grateful he still had that silent weapon on his side.

Reid felt his heart rate speed up as the knife was lowered to the base of his neck. Slowly the knife was dragged downwards. It wasn't deep, barely cutting Reid at all, but it effectively cut his purple shirt away. Using the end of the knife, Chris dragged each side of the shirt away exposing Reid's pale chest.

"S-so, how do you know May?" Reid asked shakily as the knife was relocated to his lower abdomen.

"Let's just say I've known her for a long time," he said cryptically before going back to the knife.

Slowly and methodically, Chris made several medium length, shallow cuts along his chest. He hummed a simple tune while he worked, cutting with more force the higher the notes.

Reid managed to keep from making any noises except the occasional tiny hiss every now and then when Chris went deeper than usual. As much as Reid didn't want to give this man the satisfaction, the main reason behind his silence was Morgan.

Reid knew Morgan was only down the hall and should he shout, Morgan would no doubt hear. It was probably already torturing Morgan a great deal, Reid didn't need to add onto the psychological torture by making Morgan listen to his cries of agony.

Suddenly Chris stopped.

He looked up at Reid with a curious expression on his face.

"You know, you're not as much fun as the others, especially the girls. The girls were the best. They would scream and cry and beg for their lives, like begging would change anything. But the men, they don't make as much noise. I keep telling May to take girls, they're more fun. But you, you're quieter than any of them."

Reid wasn't sure what was expected of him, so he stayed silent.

"I'm not sure I like that," Chris said, his voice going from merely stating facts to full of hatred. He raised the knife and Reid began to panic.

Chris was going to kill him. He'd doomed himself with his silence. But…no…May wanted him alive, surely Chris would listen to her? He was obviously the submissive one…but he had obviously wanted to hurt him more than she would allow…maybe he had been pushed to the breaking point…maybe he just didn't like Reid's silence…

Before Reid could fill his head further with statistics and aspects of the profile, the knife came down.

PART IX: Recuperating

The door banged open and Chris jerked involuntarily causing the knife to change it's course and instead slash into the side of his left thigh.

Even though it wasn't a direct stab, it was still incredibly painful and a scream burst forth from Reid's lips. That elicited a pleased smile from Chris, but it quickly turned to a scowl as he turned to face May.

"Damnit, May, you screwed me up!"

"I'm sorry, but I just thought I should let you know, you have fifteen minutes left. Just a little heads up!" she said happily then left.

Chris looked appraisingly at the knife for a minute before walking over to a table in the corner and turning his back on Reid. Reid panted for a few seconds as he attempted to overcome the searing pain in his leg.

Maybe it was Reid's imagination, but he could swear he could hear someone pounding on something in the distance, but he didn't have time to dwell on it because Chris was back.

This time though, a pair of pliers were his instrument of choice.

"W-what are you doing with those?" Reid asked, cursing the slight quiver of fear in his voice.

"You'll see." Was the ominous reply.

Reid nearly jumped out of his skin when a cold hand grabbed his wrist. He struggled but his restrained wrists could only do so much to stop the stronger hands trying to gain control.

His right hand was grabbed in a grip so tight it was almost painful. He felt the cold metal of the pliers' touch his pointer finger and Reid realized what was happening.

But that didn't stop it from hurting like hell.

Reid shouted and writhed as his fingernail was ripped from its nail bed.

"Hurt's doesn't it?" Chris asked. He loomed over Reid, brandishing the tool that still had Reid's fingernail in its grasp.

The fingernail was dropped into a bowl and Chris went back for Reid's middle finger.

Just as he got a firm grip and started to pull. The door opened.

"Time's up!" May said brightly.

"You didn't give me enough time, May. Just give me a minute," he growled as he focused his attention back on Reid's finger.

"Stop it, Chris," May said forcefully as she briskly approached the taller man.

"No, just one more minute," he hissed.

"No! That's breaking the rules!" May snarled as she grabbed the pliers and yanked them away.

"Who gives a damn!" Chris shouted as he lunged for the tool. "You're so bossy!" he growled.

"I am not," she shrieked as they continued to fight for control.

"That's why Dad liked me best!"

"Shut up!" May snarled. With one final pull May got control and pushed herself back a bit. They both stood there for a few minutes, staring at each other and breathing hard. Suddenly May smiled and tossed the pliers onto a table. She brushed off her dress then turned back to the room's other two occupants.

"Chris, I will come get you if I need you." Even though Chris looked unhappy, he acknowledged the dismissal and left the room.

"Now, Spencer, I'm sorry you had to see that." She undid his hands and feet then stepped back as Reid slowly sat up. He cradled his bloody hand to his chest, moving his finger in the slightest sparked a flare of pain so he attempted to keep it stationary.

"Come on," she said as she made her way to the door. Reid slowly pushed himself up and almost fell over at first as pain radiated down his leg. After a few deep breaths, he got to his feet and stumbled, half blinded by pain, down the hall after her. She didn't even bother to tie his hands.

She unlocked the other door and Reid stepped inside.

Morgan was sitting on the opposite walled with his elbows resting on his knees. His head jerked up and he gasped as he took in Reid's appearance.

"Be back in five hours," Mayella said happily as she exited. "Oh, and here," she said right before closing the door all the way. "You might want this for your leg." A medium sized towel was tossed into the room.

"Oh, Reid, man," Morgan said wistfully as he took in all Reid's injuries. He quickly made his way over and helped Reid to sit down and lean on the wall.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Reid said without opening his eyes. And it was mostly true. His chest was covered in blood, but it was mostly small, superficial cuts. His wrist and ankles were raw from him squirming while tied up and his right hand had had trails of blood running down from his finger. But now that the initial onslaught of pain was over, it was starting to hurt less. His thigh was still an awful ache, but he'd live.

"The other partner-"

"Not now, man, let's take care of you first," Morgan said. He grabbed the towel and wrapped it tightly around Reid's leg.

"Sorry," Morgan mumbled as Reid made a small noise as he tied the towel. Since Reid's shirt was already cut, Morgan used that to mop the blood of off his chest. Without all the blood, Reid looked significantly better.

"You don't have to, I-" Reid muttered as he saw Morgan start to take off his jacket.

"Shut up, Kid," Morgan said as he handed over the jacket. Even though it was baggy on his skinny frame, Reid had to admit, it was comfortable and he was a bit cold. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Morgan asked.

"Uh, just my hand, but there's nothing you can do about that," Reid said, suddenly feeling sleepy.

"Let me see," Morgan said. Reid held up a skinny hand and Morgan was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. Reid's pointer finger had some blood running down it and Reid's wrist was incredibly raw, there were even a few specks of blood here and there on the chafed wrist. But it was the lack of fingernail that really caught his attention.

"That sonuvabitch!" Morgan growled.

"It could have been a lot worse, Morgan," Reid sighed.

It may have been true, but that didn't mean Morgan was any less pissed about what had happened.

Once he was satisfied that Reid was taken care of as best as possible, he decided it was time to chew the young genius out.

"How could you do that, Reid? How could you intentionally-"

"Morgan, I did what I had to do and it's too late now to do anything about it. I'm sorry, but I couldn't think of any other way to help us. If I hadn't we would have been completely in the dark about the other person and we would have just been playing her game endlessly until either our team found us, or she decided that she'd had enough. I'm sorry, Morgan," Reid said sincerely.

Morgan was at a loss for words. There were so many emotions swirling around in him, he couldn't pick one to focus on. He was angry as hell at the kid for pulling a stunt like that, thankful that he was relatively okay, guilty because he was supposed to protect the kid! If he hadn't hesitated at the door when he first saw Reid on the floor…if he'd pulled his weapon immediately, or been more prepared for a surprise attack…they would both be safe.

"Morgan, stop, this isn't your fault," Reid said as if reading Morgan's thoughts. Reid's head was tilted back against the wall and his eyes were closed and Morgan realized how tired he looked.

"Reid, man, get some rest."

"But the profile-"

"Can wait. Just try and sleep for a bit okay, you look exhausted."

Finally, Reid nodded and let himself drift off to sleep.

PART X: Talking It Out

"Reid, wake up," someone was distantly saying. That didn't make sense, he always woke up to an alarm. Why was his alarm clock talking to him?

"Reid, come on, man, you have to get up." Oh. Morgan. Not his alarm clock. Well that made more sense. Well sort of. Why was Morgan in his apartment? "She's gonna be here for the next puzzle soon." What did puzzles have to do with anything? Who was she?

"Reid!" A final jerk on his shoulder was enough for him to drag his heavier than usual eyelids open. He slowly sat up, having slid down the wall in his sleep, and looked around. Oh right. Mayella, the logic games…it all came back to him.

"Welcome to the land of the living," Morgan said. Reid mumbled something unintelligible and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"How are you?" Morgan asked.

"Fine," he replied. It was sort of true. In comparison to the pain of earlier, he was much better. His finger and thigh were both throbbing, but it was dull enough that it could be ignored if he didn't focus on it. His chest was pain free unless he moved too much, which caused it to sting like a paper cut.

Morgan looked at him, clearly unconvinced, so Reid corrected himself and said, "Better, really."

"If you say so. So what about the other UnSub?" Morgan asked.

"Well, it was kind of weird. He was definitely older than her, but she was in control of him. Also, they started arguing towards the end and it almost sounded like siblings bickering. Oh, and now that I think about it, Chris did say-"

"Wait, Chris?"

"Yeah, that was his name. He said 'Dad liked me best' so that also implies they're related."

"Hmm, that explains why she trusts him so much."

"He was also definitely a sadist, we were right about that. He got upset when Mayella told him time was up."

"That seems reversed. You'd think the older sibling would be in control. She must be very smart or something for him to follow even though she's so young.

"Also, he's pretty well built, so if we somehow do figure out some escape, he's probably going to be our biggest obstacle."

"Probably," Morgan agreed.

Reid's chest was feeling better, so he decided to attempt to move to a more comfortable position. He slowly pushed himself up a bit further and tried to, very gently, straighten out his legs from the awkward, half-bent position he had fallen asleep in.

This turned out to be a mistake, as pain ignited across his thigh causing him to involuntarily gasp out. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

He heard a scuffling noise, and even though he was expecting it, Reid still jumped a bit when Morgan put a hand on his shoulder. Jumping caused a stinging sensation to sweep through his chest followed by a pins and needles feeling.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked worriedly. Reid kept his eyes closed and didn't answer him. "Reid?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Reid said through clenched teeth without opening his eyes.

"Yeah, I can tell," Morgan said sarcastically.

After a few minutes silence in which Reid managed to get the pain back under control and open his eyes.

"Morgan?" he said quietly, looking down.

"Yeah, kid?"

"I'm, uh…" he was apparently very interested in a stray string at the edge of Morgan's jacket all of a sudden. "I'm sorry," he said, still not looking up.

"For what?"

"For everything, for this whole mess. For making you listen to me being tortured. It's my fault and I'm sorry," Reid said somberly, still refusing to make eye contact.

"What? No it's not," Morgan said incredulously. This whole time Morgan had been soundly berating himself for letting them get taken. And at the same time Reid had been drowning in guilt for the same exact thing? How had he not noticed?

"Yeah it is. I should have reacted faster, been more on my guard…"

"Reid that's crazy! He blitzed you from behind! Unless you've got some six sense you haven't told me about and you knew that you would be attacked going back to the office, I fail to see why you should have been more 'on your guard'."

"I thought I heard someone in the hallway when I was heading back. I think he was hiding in the supply closet or something because I thought it sounded like someone was behind me after I passed it. But I brushed if off as paranoia," Reid said regretfully, still not meeting Morgan's eye.

"Reid, it could have been a janitor or another worker or someone! How were you supposed to know it was a killer? It's not like you could have turned around and checked. What would you have said if it was a worker? 'Oh, I'm sorry, I was just checking you weren't a sadistic serial killer'? You had no way of knowing!"

"But I still should have been more on my guard!" Reid insisted. "Just in case!"

"Stop, man…Reid, look at me," after a minute Reid lifted his head to meet Morgan's eyes. "This is not your fault. Got that? Hell, if it's anyone's fault it's mine. I suspected something was up when you didn't come back. I walked into that room and saw you unconscious on the floor and I just froze for a minute. If I had grabbed my gun and looked around like I should have…"

"Morgan, that's ridiculous. Anyone would have done the same thing. Besides, even if you had grabbed your gun, you really think you would have had time to turn around and get a shot off at him before he hit you on the head? You had roughly half a second to act. You couldn't have done anything."

"Yeah, well…"

"If I can't blame myself, then you can't blame yourself," Reid said. Morgan smiled and nodded.

Even though, they were both still guilty, it was much less than before.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Reid spoke up.

"This is kind of selfish, but I'm glad you're here. Not that I'd ever wish you to be hurt or in trouble or having to endure this psychological torture, but I just mean I'm glad I'm not alone."

"Me too."

"W-with Tobias, I…I felt so alone. Which was silly I guess since I pretty much had three people with me at all times," Reid said with a cold, humorless laugh, "and I knew you guys were watching, but…I wanted someone I could talk to without having to think through everything I was going to say. You know, someone to show me that there was actually a reason to keep fighting. I never did thank Gideon for what he said through the webcam…he'll never know how inspiring it was," Reid said wistfully.

Morgan didn't have anything to say to that so he put a hand on Reid's shoulder in silent support.

"We'll make it out of this. We'll figure a way out," Morgan said firmly.

Reid wished they could stay in the moment of silent comfort and support forever, but the creak of the locks suddenly echoed around the room.

"Come along, Spencer," Mayella said as she stepped in.

"Can't you wait a little longer? He's still recovering from the last round," Morgan said as he slowly helped Reid to his feet.

"Nope, sorry, you know the rules. He got it wrong, so he had to suffer the consequences," but there was a tiny hint of suspicion on her face suggesting she had in fact, known Reid had gotten it wrong intentionally.

After a moment of swaying, Reid managed to keep his balance and laboriously made his way over to the girl who had made his life hell.

Morgan sent him a quick reassuring smile, which Reid shakily returned, and the metal door shut.

PART XI: A Close Call

"Have a seat," Mayella said as she turned and located the knife.

"Um, could I perhaps stay standing?" Reid asked. His thigh didn't hurt as much if he didn't change positions.

"No, sit," she said simply.

Reid let out a sigh and held back a groan as he sat down and a fiery pain shot through his leg.

"So," she said eagerly as she turned back to him, "let us begin."

Reid dragged his attention away from the pain and focused on the perky girl in front of him.

"Alright, so you're mixing something…let's say you're mixing cement. And the recipe calls for five gallons of water. You have a hose to give you all the water you need. But," she said dramatically, "you only have a four gallon bucket and a seven gallon bucket and neither has any graduation marks. So how do you measure our five gallons?"

Reid had to admit, that one definitely made him think more.

 _What if I get it wrong? I don't think I could handle being tortured again so quickly! Plus then doing it before would be a waste!_ No, he needed to focus on the question at hand and figure it out, not worry about what would happen if he didn't.

"Two minutes left," Mayella said.

_Holy crap has it already been three minutes? I'm running out of time! What if I can't think of it? How long has Morgan been without water? How long have I been without food? NO! Stop! Focus!_

"One minute," May said. She was staring at her watch eagerly, getting more and more excited.

_No way that was too fast? What if she's not be honest about the time? Actually she probably is and I'm just not focusing enough…_

"Thirty seconds…"

_Oh god, oh god._

"Fifteen seconds…ten…five…"

"WAIT!" Reid all but screamed. Mayella jumped and the knife clattered to the ground.

"My goodness," she said as she swept the knife back into her hand without taking her eyes of Reid. "Yes?" she asked as she stood up.

"I have it," he said quickly.

A wave of disappointment crossed her face and Reid suddenly realized that didn't make sense. Why would she be disappointed? She didn't get to do the torturing.

Before Reid could ponder it more, her face changed to excitement and she enthusiastically asked, "And it is?"

"Fill the four gallon bucket, then dump it into the empty seven gallon one. Fill the four gallon bucket up again, then pour as much as possible into the seven gallon bucket, which leaves you with one gallon in the four gallon bucket. Empty the seven gallon one and dump the one gallon of water into it. Fill the four gallon one again then dump it into the seven gallon one and you have five gallons," Reid explained, probably quicker than necessary as he was still on edge from almost running out of time. "This doesn't, of course take in variables such as spilling some, which is very likely seeing as your filling each bucket to the very top."

"Your brilliance never ceases to amaze me," Mayella said. Reid gave her a small smile. "Be right back," she said cheerily as she slipped out the door. Slowly, Reid rose to his feet. He wasn't going to do anything but look around, but he still felt on edge. Like she'd suddenly come bursting in. He cautiously peeked around, making note of the position of all the tools and tables around the room. Once he was done looking around, he quickly returned to his seat and waited for her return.

Maybe it was just him, but it seemed to take her longer than normal.

But when she did return, she came bearing a medium sized, red apple. As if on cue, his stomach gave a loud rumble of appreciation. May grinned at him as she set it in front of him. Then she leaned back against a table like she did when she asked him questions.

He wanted to completely inhale the apple, but he knew that would just make his stomach cramp and possibly try to empty itself. So he used every ounce of self-control he had and slowly nibbled away at the apple, savoring the crisp, fresh taste.

"All done?" she asked a few minutes later when nothing but the core and seeds remained. He nodded and got to his feet slowly. Feeling satisfied that the pain that came to his leg when he stood was less than before, he made his way down the hallway.

As soon as he stepped through the doorway Morgan appeared at his side. And he was grateful. Even though it wasn't far, the journey from the other room had made him tired and made his leg shakier by the second. Morgan helped him over to their usual spot against the wall and they sat down.

"What was the puzzle?" Morgan asked curiously. Reid began to explain the puzzle and answer.

"….so then you dump the four gallon one into the seven gallon one again and- I just remembered!" Reid said suddenly, turning eagerly to Morgan. "I think I might have an escape plan!"

PART XII: Putting the Plan In Motion

"I have the information of Mayella Roberts you requested, Sir," Garcia said over the phone.

"Alright, one second," Hotch put her on speakerphone and set the phone down in the center of the table, "go ahead."

"Mayella Roberts is seventeen years old and lives under the guardianship of her twenty-five year old brother, Christopher. The mother died when they were really young and the dad died about five years ago; drank himself to death. Gaurdianship of Mayella went to her brother because he was over nineteen. Apparently Mayella's teachers thought she should move up a grade or two when she was younger, but the father wouldn't agree to it."

"Underappreciated brilliance – fits the profile," Hotch said quickly.

"She was expelled from highschool a little over a month ago for supposedly poisoning her ex-boyfriend, but no official charges were pressed."

"And the first body was found about three weeks ago right? So that was probably the stressor," Hotch said.

"What about the brother?" asked Prentiss.

"He was a cardiothoracic surgeon until roughly two months ago when he was fired for a medical malpractice."

"Medical background - also fits," Rossi said.

"So, do you think it's them?" Prentiss asked Hotch.

"Even if it's not, it fits the profile too well for us to not follow the lead. Address, Garcia?"

Garcia gave them the address and they headed out to the SUV's praying they would find their friends there.

All three, Hotch, Prentiss and Rossi, were masters of compartmentalizing and no emotion was evident on their faces. Guilt and worry as well as grief and determination floated around the car, but most of all, hope.

They would find Morgan and Reid and stop the sick pyschos who did this to them if it was the last thing they did.

XXX

"Ready?"

Reid nodded.

"Alright, then let's begin."

Reid fidgeted nervously, not because he didn't think he could answer the logic puzzle, but because of what would happen after.

He and Morgan had spent about an hour creating an escape plan and used the other four or so hours to catch up on sleep. They'd need it if this was going to work. They had gone over everything they could think of and had finally settled on something. But, at least in the beginning part of it, Reid would have to do most of the work. He didn't mind, but he wasn't sure how long his leg would be able to support him.

"Six drinking glasses stand in a row on a table. The first three are full of juice and the others are empty. By moving only one glass, how can you arrange them so the empty and full glasses alternate?" May asked.

Reid almost didn't believe her at first. That was it? That was easy. Maybe after seeing how close he came with the last difficult one (measuring water) she decided to give him a break? Well whatever her reasons, Reid was grateful. "Pour the second glass into the fifth glass," he said.

"Very good," May said. "Be right back," she said cheerily. Reid almost sagged with relief, but then he remembered that he had to get ready.

He stood up on his shaking legs and made his way over to a knife on the wall. Working quickly and effectively, Reid sawed off the rope binding his still sore hands. He didn't have long and he was starting to worry the binds wouldn't cut in time.

Finally, the cut rope fell away and Reid rotated his wrists a couple of times.

Wait, what was that noise?

_Oh god, it's the locks! The door! May's already back! I took too long! I'm not going to have time! I'll be punished and Morgan will be punished and…_

Reid managed to snap himself out of his panic and practically threw himself at the wall of tools. For once Reid was glad for the heavy lock on the door, it gave him the last few seconds he needed. Grabbing a heavy wrench he'd noticed before, he quickly slid into position right next the door. Even though his finger felt like it was on fire, he got a firm grip on the metal tool and raised it above his head, prepared to strike.

So far so good.

The door opened and Mayella began to step in, none the wiser to the trap she was walking in to.

But then something very unexpected happened and the perfect plan started to fall apart.

XXX

Morgan paced anxiously around the room.

He hated every aspect of the plan. By the time he would be able to get involved, Reid would have already done all the hard work. And had it gone wrong he would be the one in immediate danger should it go wrong as well.

Morgan had tried to be meticulous, he had tried to think of every detail for the plan to help keep Reid safe. He'd mulled over everything that could go wrong and he and Reid had tried to plan accordingly. But they couldn't have thought of everything, it just wasn't possible.

But he couldn't think like that. He had to have faith that Reid would pull it off without a hitch.

The door started opening and Mayella stepped in.

"Food or water?"

She didn't seem to suspect anything. So far so good. In fact, Morgan was so excited about the very real possibility that they could be out of this hell in less than an hour, he almost forgot to answer.

"Well?"

"Oh, um," a little stalling wouldn't hurt, Reid could use the extra time, "food." It wouldn't matter in the end. She nodded and left.

Morgan's heartbeat sped up and he could feel adrenaline start to pump through his veins. This very second, just down the hall Reid was setting the plan in motion. He'd be cutting the rope then grabbing some tool or other he'd seen earlier.

Despite the excitement and hope, Morgan couldn't help feel frustrated. Here he was, doing _nothing,_ while Reid was working to save both their skins. But Morgan had faith he'd be able to pull it off. Reid was no doubt preparing to not May unconscious and steal the key from her necklace. They figured it'd be about two or three minutes before Chris noticed May wasn't coming back upstairs for some reason, but that was still enough time for Reid to free Morgan and together they could no doubt tackle him. And even if Chris came early, he wouldn't know. Reid would still have the element of surprise. The whole plan rested on the element of surprise being in their favor.

Morgan just had to pray Reid's injuries would stand the mistreatment long enough. Reid was in no way weak, but there was only so much pain one could person would deal with while still fighting someone.

Any minute now, Reid was going to throw open the door and Morgan would hurry to his aid…

Any minute now…

What was taking so long?

PART XIII: Get Out Alive

"May, look out!" Someone shouted.

Both Reid and May jerked in surprise. Mayella whipped around to see Reid standing over her with the wrench.

Panic quickly rose in his throat and Reid brought the wrench down on the young girl's temple. A shocked cry burst from her lips, but it was silenced as she fell unconscious to the ground.

Reid spun on his heel and came face to face with a very angry Chris, hatred evident on his face. Not knowing what else to do, Reid raised the wrench as quickly as he could.

But Chris knew where all Reid's  
injuries were and he used that to his advantage. He gave Reid a forceful sideways shove. Reid's torso erupted in sharp pain and his injured leg couldn't support him as he overbalanced.

As Reid toppled to the ground, Chris flew past him and into the other room. Reid did his best to ignore the pain and struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on the doorframe and panting.

Chris grabbed a knife off the wall and took a protective stance in front of a still unconscious May. They both stood like that facing each other waiting to see who would make the first move like they were in a Western shoot-out.

All of a sudden, Chris let out a roar of rage and threw himself forward, knife outstretched. Reid turned to the side in order to make himself as small a target as possible, and brought the wrench up like a bat ready to swing.

Reid put all of his strength into the swing, praying it would be enough. The wrench collided with the side of Chris' head, but not before the knife, jolted slightly off-course, slashed along the top of Reid's shoulder.

Both men fell into a heap on the ground.

Reid laid on the ground for a few seconds, breathing too quickly. Slowly after a moment, he pushed himself up and saw Chris unconscious next to him, a steady trail of blood leaking from a gash just above his left ear. Reid's shoulder was stinging viciously, but all in all, he had dodged the bullet on that one. His finger throbbed from all the pressure of being wrapped around the wrench and his thigh hurt with a vengeance. Light waves of pain coursed through his stomach, but of all his injuries, the cuts, though large in number, were small in size and the least of his worries.

After a few deep breathes, Reid crawled over to Mayella and grabbed the key off of her small neck. Ignoring the fine tremors shaking his thin frame, he staggered through the open door and down the hall to where Morgan was. He took the lock in his hand and tried to slip the key into it, but his hands were shaking so much that the small key fell to the ground the first time.

The second try Reid got the key into the lock and it clicked open. He pushed open the door and Morgan came forward instantly.

"What happened? How'd it go? What happened to your shoulder?" Morgan asked very quickly.

Reid just gave his head a small shake and gestured vaguely behind him. Morgan stepped past him and Chris' unconscious body came into view. He turned back to Reid with a disbelieving look on his face.

"How'd he know so fast?"

"I don't know, but he was on his way down before I even got a chance to knock May out. He knew what was going on. He managed to cut my shoulder a bit, but I'm not really that much worse than before," Reid said tiredly.

"Then let's get the hell out of here."

"What do you think the best way to tackle that is?" Reid said, gesturing to the ladder.

"Um," Morgan thought for a minute before replying, "you should probably go first and I'll follow after you so I can help you if you need it."

Reid nodded and slowly made his way up to the simple wooden structure that would probably prove to be an incredibly difficult task. Mentally preparing himself for the pain he knew would come, Reid stepped onto the first step with his good leg, and pulled himself up. Reid brought his bad leg up to the next one and started to push himself up, but a huge wave of pain exploded in his leg. Reid gasped and would have fallen off if Morgan hadn't appeared behind him with a hand on his back. Reid took a moment to get himself together than switched tactics and continued climbing the ladder.

"Take your time," Morgan said supportively.

From then on, Reid made it up without problem. It was slow going because he ended up only using one leg to propel himself up and his shoulder and hand were starting to ache viciously, but Morgan's steady stream of support urged him on.

Finally Reid pulled himself through the opening in the ceiling and flopped onto the hard wood floor. A minute later Morgan appeared next to him.

Morgan seemed to acknowledge that Reid needed a moment to recover, because he got up and peered into another room.

"Hey Reid, I figured out how what's-his-face figured out what you were up to so quickly," Morgan called from another room. Morgan came back into the room where Reid was and said, "Creepy and Creepier had a live video feed of the torture room going. There was also one of the room we were in, but I don't think that one had sound," Morgan said, thankful for the lack of audio.

Morgan then disappeared into what turned out to be the kitchen. He took the opportunity to drink some water then filled a glass for Reid.

When the glass of water showed up in front of Reid, he thanked Morgan and took a few tentative sips. When his stomach didn't rebel, he gratefully finished the cold drink.

"Ready to go?" Morgan asked. Reid nodded and with Morgan's help, got to his feet. He swayed at first as vertigo assaulted him, but it soon passed.

Morgan had already concluded that the house didn't have a phone, so they decided to try and get a hold of a neighbor and borrow their phone.

Both FBI agents couldn't help but bask in the sun slightly when they first stepped out of the door.

Just as they were the gap between the house and the neighbor's house, they heard a door slam open.

"Hey!" Reid and Morgan both looked back to see a very pissed Mayella standing on the doorstep, looking quite intimidating. Her dressed was wrinkled and torn and had splashes of blood on it. Her hair was tangled and a trail of blood dripped from her head. She had a small, single-shot pistol in her hand. She leveled it on them and they both took off running towards the forest behind the houses.

They sprinted deep into the woods, unaware that not ten minutes later, a black SUV would pull up to that very house.

The three agents who were looking for them would enter the house. Chris would pull a gun on them to keep them distracted while May slipped to the neighbors and stole their car. The agents would have no choice but to shoot Chris, then after a search of the house, they would conclude their missing friends weren't there.

And then they'd leave.

While Morgan and Reid were not even a mile away in the forest, praying to be found.

PART XIV: Escape Ain't All It's Cracked Up To Be

It was getting dark.

Morgan was all too aware that it was about to get very cold very fast. They needed to move and quick. He crawled over to his unconscious partner.

They had run from the house, as fast and as long as they could. Adrenaline had masked Reid's pain until about an twenty minutes later when it came back to him. He had collapsed, the agony in his leg too much to bear. Morgan had known it would be no use to wake Reid up and try and get him to continue. So, after checking Reid's breathing and pulse, he had waited a bit.

About half an hour later, it started getting dark.

"C'mon, man, you got to wake up." Reid mumbled something unintelligible and Morgan gave him a light shake on his uninjured shoulder. "Reid, we have to get going." Reid's eyes flickered open. "It's getting dark," Morgan pointed out unnecessarily.

Morgan helped Reid to his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist to help support him.

"Do you, um, know where we are?" Reid asked tentatively as he looked around. Morgan gave a small shake of his head.

Great, now they were hurt, cold _and_ lost.

"Wonderful, that's fan-fucking-tastic. We shouldn't have come in here. We should have thought about it before taking off-"

"We didn't have much time to think about it-"

"So? We're FBI agents for crying out loud! And-"

"Shh!" Reid suddenly hissed.

"Don't shh me!" Morgan said irritably.

"No, no, listen!" Morgan stopped and listened.

There. It was tiny and distant and _how the hell had Reid heard that while he was talking_ , but it was there. A car.

"That way, I think," Reid said as he pointed a bit to their left.

"Alright then let's go."

They slowly made their way through the woods, occasionally stopping to make sure they could still hear cars. The problem was, each time they stopped, they had to wait longer and longer before they heard a car. Traffic was slowing because it was getting dark and late. Morgan figured it had to be going on eight.

Reid tried very hard to mask his pain, but he knew he wasn't doing a good job because Morgan kept shooting him looks. Sometimes ones of sympathy and sometimes ones of support and encouragement. Chills started wracking his frame, adding to his problems. Shivering caused his chest to sting even more. His tired limbs were aching and it was getting harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other.

Morgan could see Reid wearier each step and he felt a surge of pride for the young man when he didn't stop. His own feet were starting to hurt and he couldn't imagine how bad Reid's thigh must hurt. When he noticed the genius was shivering, he really started to worry. They couldn't go on much longer, but they couldn't stop in the middle of woods in the middle of the night.

As Morgan was trying to come up with a plan, Reid found one.

"The light at the end of the tunnel," Reid chuckled.

Morgan looked over at him worriedly. Was he delusional? Had he lost that much blood?

"What?" Morgan asked.

"Look," Reid said, pointed a shaky hand straight ahead.

And there it was, the tiny light of a faraway car headlight. Their ray of hope, their light at the end of the tunnel, was a literal light at the end of the 'tunnel' of trees.

Even though it really wasn't funny and Reid was in serious need of medical attention, Morgan found himself chuckling. Then full out laughing. And Reid laughed right along with him. It was just one of those moments where you laugh your head off and someone asks 'what's so funny' and you just can't explain what's so funny, or _why_ it even is funny.

And suddenly Morgan realized that the longer they stood there laughing, the later it got and the less likely it became that a car would come by. Even though he was still laughing, Morgan grabbed onto Reid's uninjured arm and started jogging forward, trying not to go too fast, but still get there quickly.

When they got to the road, the car was gone, but Morgan had figured it would be. But that didn't mean another one wouldn't come along soon. By his estimation, it was somewhere between eight-fourty five and nine.

As soon as they stopped, Reid sank to the ground almost immediately. His breathing was heavy and Morgan was instantly worried.

It was only as he noticed how incredibly pale Reid was, that he realized just how much blood the young man had lost.

The towel that was still tied around his leg was almost entirely soaked in blood. Around his shoulder there was a semicircle of blood. Along his hand and midway down his arm were dry crimson tracks. There were specks of blood here and there on Morgan's jacket covering Reid's chest and Morgan remembered how much blood had originally been on Reid's chest. And no doubt walking through the forest had reopened a few and probably made his thigh bleed a bit now and then.

How much had he lost?

Too much blood that was how much.

Morgan's conclusion was confirmed as Reid's eyes rolled up in his head and he fell back.

PART XV: Light At the End of the Tunnel

"Hello?"

"JJ, hi, it's Prentiss." Prentiss was standing in the average looking living room of the home of Chris and Mayella Roberts. They had arrived about half an hour ago and the only useful thing they had found had been the trapdoor hidden slightly under the rug in the living room.

"Oh, hi, did you get the UnSubs?" the blonde media liaison asked over the phone.

"Well, the guy was here. He's dead, he drew his gun on us and was about to try and shoot Hotch, so we ended up having to shoot him."

"And the girl?"

"We couldn't find her, she must have escaped while we were busy with the guy."

"What about Reid and Morgan?" JJ's hope was obvious even over the phone.

"They weren't here," JJ wasn't sure what it was, but there was some unidentifiable emotion in Prentiss' voice.

"But… that doesn't make sense!" How could they not be there! They didn't have any other leads. If Morgan and Reid weren't there, it was likely that they would never be found.

"We found some blood in the basement, forensics ran it and it was confirmed as Reid's."

"Oh, god," JJ whispered. Realistically, yes, she had known they were probably being tortured. But to actually _hear_ someone say it…

"So where do you think they are?" JJ asked.

"We don't know. We're assuming the girl took them with her, she seemed to be the dominant one."

JJ wanted to scream. Or cry. Or both. She knew that once an abducted person, or in this case persons, was moved from the original spot, chances of finding them became slim to none _. If Reid was here, he'd be able to tell me the exact statistics,_ JJ thought. It was incredible how quiet the whole investigation had seemed without Reid rambling off statistics. She imagined Garcia felt the same about not getting any flirtatious greetings or remarks from Morgan.

It just wasn't _right._

It felt so wrong. The whole team felt wrong. And they would continue to feel that way until they were whole again.

"Alright, thanks for letting me know," JJ said, trying to keep it calm while she was still on the phone.

"Of course. Would you mind telling Garcia?"

"Sure, keep me posted."

"Will do, bye."

"Bye-"

"Oh, and JJ? Don't worry. We will find them. We won't stop until we do. This is Morgan and Reid we're talking about. If anyone can save themselves, it's those two." Prentiss wasn't normally a touchy-feeling person, but right now, JJ needed to hear it, and frankly, so did Emily.

"Thanks."

They both hung up and JJ, who was back at the police station in New Hampshire, dialed Garcia.

"Please tell me they got them," Garcia said immediately.

"No. They didn't get the UnSubs or our boys. One of the UnSubs, the guy, is dead. But the girl is missing. They think she took Morgan and Reid and ran."

JJ heard a badly suppressed sob on the other end along with the distinct sound of tears. A few tears of JJ's fell right along with them.

XXX

"Reid!" Morgan dropped to his knees next to the unconscious man he consider like a younger brother. Reid was fine, he told himself. He was just tired. He wasn't dying or anything. Because Reid couldn't die. Not now, not ever. Not when they had just managed to escape from the sadistic hands of a serial killer and were so close to help.

He pressed his fingers to Reid's neck, just in case. The pulse was there, slightly slow, but definitely there. "Reid? C'mon, Pretty Boy, time to wake up." It became apparent Reid was not in the mood to join the land of the living and help find a car, so Morgan stood up and edged towards the road.

They were at a bend in the road, and from their current point, Morgan couldn't really see much either way. He didn't want to go too far from where Reid was so he just walked a bit each way to see if there were any more lights, be it car or house.

There was nothing but empty desolation.

He returned and sat down next to Reid, once again checking both his pulse and his breathing. When he deemed them both acceptable given their situation, Morgan went back to staring around.

At this time of year in New Hampshire, it got dark around 8ish, so Morgan assumed it was probably around nine. How many cars came down this road at night? Did any?

About half-an-hour, Morgan decided he needed to do something or he'd lose it. So he set about trying to rouse Reid.

Slowly, after much calling of Reid's name and shoulder shaking, he started to come to. Reid started to prop himself up on his elbows, and even though he gave a hiss of pain, he didn't change positions. He was staring somewhere over Morgan's shoulder when Reid mumbled, "Light."

For one, terrifying (and perhaps a bit irrational) moment, Morgan thought Reid was talking about the 'white light' you supposedly see when you die. Oh, god, was he already that bad? Morgan could hear his own heart pounding in his chest.

"Morgan," Reid said, "a light," Reid raised his hand and pointed behind Morgan. "Morgan," he persisted when Morgan just continued to stare at him like he was losing it. "Morgan, hurry! There's a car coming! Morgan!"

That snapped Morgan out of his trance. He spun around and sure enough, there was a car coming. He leapt up and made his way to the edge of the road. He didn't get quite in the center, just in case whoever didn't see him, he didn't want to be hit and just add to their problems. Though, that would probably make them stop, Morgan thought wryly.

"Please! Stop! We need help!" Before he could say anymore the car pulled to a stop next to him and the window rolled down.

It was a woman, maybe in her thirties, with short brown hair.

"What can I do for you?" She asked.

"Please, my friend and I need to get to a hospital." Several emotions crossed her face.

"I'm really sorry, but this car is my husbands, so I can't let you have a ride," she said looking at the blood on his head, "but I can certainly call an ambulance for you."

"Yes, thank you."

"Glad to help. And I really would give you a ride, but my husband just got it cleaned because I spilt some coffee in it. He'd kill me if I got blood in it."

"That's okay, I understand." She nodded and pulled out her cell phone. Morgan made his way back over to Reid and dropped down next to him.

"Hey, man, how're you holding up?"

"I've been better," Reid said with a small smile.

"Well, don't worry, we'll be out of this mess soon." A few minutes later, the woman came over to them.

"What happened?" She asked as took in all of Reid's injuries.

"We were kidnapped," Morgan said before he realized that that probably wasn't the best thing to say. Sure enough, the woman looked up immediately and looked at the woods nervously like she expected some Alfred Hitchcock killer to come wielding a knife. Of course, now that Morgan thought about it, for all they knew Chris or Mayella could come bursting out any second. It was a frightening realization.

"You don't have to stay," Morgan said. If one of their kidnappers did come for them, he didn't want the kind woman hurt in the cross-fire.

"No, no, I'll stay," she said bravely, "I want to make sure you two get the help you need."

"Thank you," Reid, who had been silent the whole time, said. Pain was more evident in his voice than ever before and Morgan cursed the ambulance for taking so long, even though it had only been a few minutes.

"Don't thank me, it was the right thing to do. By the way, I'm Katie."

"Derek Morgan." No need to freak her out further by saying they were from the FBI.

"Spencer Reid," Reid said, obviously catching Morgan's drift.

Suddenly the silence was filled with the wail of sirens.

PART XVI: Lost & Found

Morgan sat unhappily on the cold examination table waiting for the doctor to come back. The doctor had decided, after a thorough examination, that Morgan had a mild concussion and only needed a few stitches and rest.

That wasn't why he was unhappy. He was unhappy because he had heard nothing of Reid, who had passed out again in the ambulance. He had tried to demand information from his own doctor, but she didn't know anything.

"Alright, let's get you stitched up," she said as she reentered. Morgan wanted to tell her to stop talking to him like he was twelve, but he kept his mouth shut.

Ten minutes and four stitches later and Morgan was heading to the waiting room. He quickly walked up to the nurses station.

"Excuse me, I came in with my friend a little while ago…"

"What's your friend's name?"

"Spencer Reid."

"Oh, wow, what a coincidence, I was just about to call," she glanced down at the paper in front of her, "Aaron Hotchner in regards of Mr. Reid," she said brightly.

Morgan didn't find this nearly as funny as she apparently did.

"It's Dr. Reid," he said coldly. "That's great, but what can you tell me about him?"

"You must be Derek Morgan then? Well, anyway, the only thing I know is Dr. Reid is needs some minor surgery on the stab wound on his leg, which is why I'm calling Agent Hotchner in the first place. Isn't it funny that you asked just as I was calling?" she said with a light laugh.

Morgan could tell he was not going to get anything out of this overly cheery nurse, so he stalked over to the hard plastic chairs and sat down.

XXX

Hotch sat on the front steps of the average looking house where his agents had been held. He was so frustrated.

They had been _so_ close! If they had just been maybe ten minutes earlier and if they hadn't let the male distract them, they could have gotten Reid and Morgan. They'd been there for about two hours now. Forensics, as well as a few of the local police and the remaining members of the BAU, had started going over the entire place with a fine toothed comb to try and figure out where Mayella had most likely taken his agents. But so far nothing had turned up.

The sense of failure was so great that Hotch felt he may just be drowning in it.

"Hey," Hotch looked up to see Rossi standing above him.

"Hey, Dave."

"Mind if I join you?" Hotch gestured at the space next to him in answer. Rossi sat down and turned to look at the obviously upset man in front of him.

"It's not your fault, you know."

"It's just…they were here. They were _here._ We could have gotten them. If we'd been quicker or split up when we found Chris instead of all staying while she got away or-"

"Look, Aaron, you can sit here and beat yourself up over something you didn't have any control over. Or you can go in and help the others out. If Reid or Morgan had left us any clues, you would recognize them better than anyone."

Hotch opened his mouth to say something, but his cell phone rang. He stood up and walked a few feet away.

"SSA Aaron Hotchner," he answered.

"Hi, I'm a nurse at Elliot Hospital*. I'm calling on behalf of Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid?"

Hotch stood frozen for a minute, the words not really processing. Finally, they clicked. Morgan and Reid had gotten free! They had gotten help! They were safe!

Hotch had the irrational desire to jump for joy. Perhaps he would have had Agent Rossi not been there.

"Where's Elliot Hospital?" Hotch asked.

"In Manchester, sir."

"How bad are they?"

"Agent Morgan has already been released. He's terrorizing nurses in the waiting area for information, actually," Hotch couldn't help but smile a bit. Yup, that was Morgan all right. You'd never guess it from his outward tough-guy exterior, but he was fiercely protective of those close to him, especially Reid, who was like a little brother to him. "And as for Agent Reid-"

"Dr. Reid," Hotch found himself automatically saying. Hotch remember Gideon always going out of his way to introduce Reid as Dr. Reid so people would give him more respect even though he was young. Hotch had naturally picked up the habit, as most on the team had, and continued even after Gideon was gone.

"Yes, well, one of the reasons I'm calling – Dr. Reid needs some minor surgery on a stab wound on his leg. Because it's not an immediate life or death situation, we're required to get permission and you're listed as his next of kin."

"Yes, go ahead, please do whatever is necessary. We'll be there soon." He didn't give the nurse time to ask who 'we' was before he hung up. He turned back and walked over to Rossi feeling almost giddy with relief. They were both alive and mostly okay. Morgan had already been released. She didn't say Reid was in any immediate danger, so he couldn't be that bad either.

"Who was that?" Rossi asked.

"Hospital. Morgan and Reid are there. I have no idea how, but they're there." A true, and rare, smile broke out across the older agents face, thankful for the health of the two younger agents.

"I'll go find Prentiss, you should call JJ. She'll want to meet us there."

XXX

About forty-five minutes later, three FBI agents quickly walked into the waiting room of Elliot Hospital. JJ was already there.

Morgan was pacing and the only obvious injury he had was a large bump along with a few stitches on his head.

All in all, very good considering.

"Morgan," Hotch said, his voice only betraying the tiniest hint of relief.

Morgan looked up and smiled.

"How are you?" Rossi asked as they made their way over to JJ and Morgan.

"Pretty good," Morgan said truthfully.

"That's good," Prentiss said, the _we were so afraid you were being tortured_ _and killed_ going unsaid.

"What about Reid? The nurse said something about minor surgery?" Hotch said.

"What?" JJ said, perking up. This was the first she had heard of surgery. "Surgery? What surgery?"

"The nurse said minor surgery, so it can't be that bad.."

Morgan then spent the next half an hour explaining the game, the questions, Reid's torture and their escape. JJ gasped when Morgan told them of Reid's fingernail being removed and Hotch called Reid a few choice names when he heard Reid fixed answer and the resulting torture. Rossi shook his head in disbelief when they realized they had only missed them by a few minutes.

Once stories were exchanged from the others, explaining how the eventually realized the profile was wrong and the resulting solution, they all sat in an impatient silence, wanting to know how their young genius was.

They didn't have to wait long, because not fifteen minutes later, a middle aged, female doctor came out and called, "Family of Spencer Reid?"

PART XVII: Homeward Bound

After a successful surgery, many stitches and a blood transfusions, the team had been allowed to see Reid. Once Reid started to fall asleep, Hotch had ordered the entire team, who hadn't been had much sleep either since Reid and Morgan were taken, back to the hotel. Morgan had finally convinced Hotch to let him stay since the hospital wanted to keep an eye on his head injury anyway.

When Reid next opened his eyes, it was much darker and he could only see one occupant.

"Mr'gn?" He mumbled. It was only after the words left his mouth that Reid realized the other man had been asleep. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Reid said.

"Nah," Morgan said dismissively, "it's all good. How are you?"

"Fine," was the immediate answer. Which got him a pointed look from Morgan. "Better, really."

"Reid-"

"Morgan-" they both said at the same time. Morgan smiled then said, "You first, kid,"

"Um, okay. I just wanted to thank you…for everything…for just being there. I don't think I could have done it by myself," Reid said shyly, keeping his focus on the edge of the sheet.

"Reid, there's nothing to thank me for. It was all you. Which I was _I_ was gonna thank _you._ You were amazing. You kept yourself calm and didn't crack under pressure. Not to mention you got our sorry asses out of there. And, Reid, man, I'm proud of you." Reid looked up quickly, and seeing the sincerity in Morgan's eyes, his cheeks flamed red.

"And I have to admit," Morgan went on, "you totally scared the crap out of me several times out there. When you told me your answer-the-question-wrong plan and when you passed out by the road. But, hey, that's all in the past. It's over and we're safe and good, well mostly," he said gesturing to Reid. "We probably would have died of dehydration out there if it wasn't for your incredible brain," Morgan concluded.

"Actually, assuming the team came to the same conclusions at the same time they did, they would have found us before we died of dehydration. It's possible I would have died of blood loss, assuming he tortured me every time I got one wrong, and you may have been tortured after, but most likely neither of us-"

"Reid?"

"Yeah?"

"Just savor the moment, would ya?"

And they did.

XXX

About a week and a half later and the BAU team was headed home. All leads had been explored and, since Mayella had apparently lost her kidnapping desire without her brother, Strauss had decided their team could be put to better use.

It had been a long and tiring trip and almost everyone was asleep on the jet. Except for Hotch and Reid. Reid was sitting by himself in the back, staring out the window, lost in thought. Hotch said in his usual spot and watched the unaware genius. Sooner or later Hotch knew he'd have to talk to Reid, but in honesty, he wasn't quite sure what to say.

Finally deciding just to get it over with, Hotch got up and made his way over.

"Hey," he said quietly so as not to wake the other BAU members. Reid gave a small jerk, apparently unaware of Hotch's presence, then looked up at him.

"Oh, hi."

"Mind if I join you?" Hotch asked.

"No, go right ahead." Hotch sat down opposite from Reid and studied him for a moment.

"Is there something you wanted to say?" Reid said, though he had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"How are you?" Hotch started.

"Fine," Reid replied. And it was true, he was feeling much better.

"Good," Hotch said with a small nod of his head. After a pause, Hotch decided just to say it. "Reid, Morgan told me about you intentionally getting the second question wrong…and I do believe I told you what would happen if you put yourself in danger again-"

"You're firing me?" Reid asked half joking and light and half concerned. Morgan muttered something in his sleep then rolled over.

"No, no…I just meant…" Hotch wasn't sure what he meant. He knew he should tell the man off for doing it, but…

"As a field agent, I understand that you put yourself in dangerous situations every day, we all do. As a profiler, I understand your reasoning and as your boss, I'm proud of you for having the courage to do it. But as your friend, I worry about you and don't like to see you hurt."

Reid just stared at him with his mouth open. Yes, he knew his team cared about him and worried about him, but…it was different hearing it, especially from Hotch, who was always so emotionless.

"Like I said, I understand your reasoning, and it may very well have helped save you and Morgan, but please try not to intentionally put yourself in a position where you know you'll be hurt in the future, okay?"

Reid smiled then nodded his agreement.

XXX

Reid unlocked his apartment and stepped in. He dropped his gun and credentials onto the counter as well as his go bag, which he would repack in the morning with clean clothes. He made himself a nice cup of coffee even though it was late. Reid drank so much coffee that caffeine didn't have much of an effect on him anymore.

He went into his bedroom and changed into more comfortable clothes then headed for the living room, intent on reading a good, classic book while drinking his coffee then heading to bed. That was his usual custom, though sometimes there was a long, hot shower in there somewhere. Reading was relaxing and it helped empty his mind of everything from the last case, and for this case in particular, his and Morgan's kidnapping.

He selected The Scarlet Letter off the shelf. He'd read it many times with his mom and own his own and it was stored in his memory, but that didn't mean he didn't like to reread it just for the fun of it.

He plopped down on his comfy couch and was about to start when he realized there was a note of is coffee table. It was about three inches by tree inches in size and was regular white printer paper. Reid stared at it in confusion for a moment before picking it up.

_Rules are not meant_

_to be broken_

_~M_

* * *

_"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning"_

_~Louis L'Amour_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is much appreciated :D


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